584 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[March i, 1889. 
with harder material there is no occasion for the 
long lines of the Ailanthus worm. Yet our spinner 
is not content to begin with the base of the leaf 
pedicle. The lines being at least one rung of leaves 
above the point of suspension, and thus cover the 
twie over a space of one or two inches, being very 
slender to being with but thickening towards the 
lower leaf pedicle, and then presenting the appearance 
of a stout cord from the leaf pedicle to the cocoon. 
The next work is with the leaf wrappings, and the 
formation of a nest as it, were for the cocoon. The 
worm then gets into position and -begins the cocoon 
proper. To follow it into its invisible world, we know 
that after the cocoon is formed there begins a 
period of lively commotion, in which the occupant 
is undergoing another change, — is, we might say, 
forming the shell in which it lies in its chrysalis 
state. So vigorous is this movement, especially when 
the cocoon is held in the warm band, that an in- 
experienced native told me one day that one of the 
specimens put in his care had a most lively moth 
in it which was battling to get through; he argued 
it must be the wings which flapped so against the 
sides of the cocoon. The fact is this period of com- 
motion must be past before the moth is formed. 
It takes from fifteen to twenty days to perfect the 
change from spinner to moth, though in exceptional 
circumstances the moth might appear in ten or twelve 
days. Being in want of specimens this year, I have 
tested the questipn whether moths can be got straight- 
way from the autumn cocoons, regardless of the fact 
that they ought not to appear till spring. It may 
be safely said they are not to be got ad libitum. 
In the spring, but more particularly in the midsum- 
mer season, everything seems to come right to a day 
— the moths are panting to be out, there is no re- 
straining them. Of the autumn cocoons it can only 
be said if you don't keep them in a cool place 
some of the moths may appear when you don't want 
them ; and, if you nurse the cocoons carefully on 
a warm k'ang, you may he luckj- enough to get a 
few specimens of moths if you desire to force an 
appearance. There seems to be no certainty in re- 
gard to autumn moths, save that they prefer to 
remain in their cocoons. But there are "early birds" 
strong specimens, which are easily tempted forth, and I 
have up to date obtained seven such, and have the 
hopes of more, though it would seem as if the 
difficulty increased as October advances. To my mind, 
iE it once pass the twenty days, it will want a 
tropical heat or the first blush of spring to call 
them to activity. The proper terms for the appear- 
ance of moths are March and August. About the 
20th of March, pains are taken to hasten the eclor- 
ion. A warm k'ang and a sunny exposure, or even 
a charcoal burner in cold seasons, are the ouiy means 
resorted to. When the moths are too early, or the 
season exceptionally late, cave must be taken with 
the eggs to see they are kept in a cool place. 
When immediate hatching is desirable the usual 
period is from ten to twelve days. The autumn 
moths should appear with the beginning of the sum- 
mer beat. Alike in spring and autumn early comers 
are prized. Generally there is » great rush of first 
corners, ana then a dropping fire which may last for 
fifteen or twenty days. But in summer, more parti- 
cularly, these late comers are not wanted, anything 
aftar ten days from the first comer is doubtful, and 
in goad husbandry would be thrown away. In some 
places there is a . careful inspection of moths with 
a view to a healthy stock. Thus a long soft body, or 
belly, which "wiggle-waggles" is bad— wanted a firm 
round body, or, as the Chinaman says, belly. Again, 
where the excretion is bad the moth is rejected. The 
fluid should be of a dull whitish colour, but a high or a 
mixed colour is a sure indication of disease. Another 
sign of evil omen is when the fundament shows black. 
It is supposed there is an immediate connection 
between this and the disease which I translated 
" diarrlnr;it"in last paper. Perhaps a description of 
Home of the moths I have seen may. be of use for 
porpOSGt of comparison. Not to describe from memory 
X limit myself to a few of (ho autumn moths above 
referred to, and which are before me in their original 
freshness while I write. One, a large, perfect speci- 
men, a female, said to be the common variety as seen 
in our parts, appeared without any prompting on the 
5 th October. The antennas are, yellow, half an inch 
in length, and very slender. The head is yellow with 
black-brown eyes which show very large, the head 
itself having a triangular look like some of the an- 
cient visors one has seen figured in tournament times. 
The body is very hairy, especially on the space be- 
tween the wings. The colour is a dark orange shading 
into redness under the belly. The greenish rings of 
the body sometimes shine through. The length of 
the body is one and a half inches when quite fresh, 
the girth at thickest being the same as the length ; 
the span of the wings is five inches. The groundcol- 
our of the wings has a dash more of red in it than 
the body. Red appears also in three distinct groups 
of characteristic marks, viz., (1) over the Attacus 
eyes ; (2) in certain veinings or bars across the wings : 
(3) and in a certain wash of colour all over the upper 
parts of the wings. A transverse bar divides the wings 
into two unequal parts, the space above the bar being 
the larger or over two-thirds of the whole. This red, 
then, scarcely appears in the lower space at all, which 
is characterised by a uniform colour difficult to des- 
cribe. It is yellow, but it has that singular suspicion 
of green shining through it which seems to give such 
a peculiar shade to the brown of the Ailanthus worm. 
If the reddish tint appears in this lower border at all 
it is only in certain lights, and even then in the 
upper wing segment only. Looking at the upper and 
under surface of the wings the ground colour all through 
would seem to be this shade of yellow, which yet cannot 
be called yellow unless one be allowed to say it has a 
dash of green, or, as a friend suggests, olive, shining 
through it. The Attacus eyes are more distinctly 
marked in the lower wing segments than in the 
upper. The oval begins above by a broad red curve 
which is about one-fourth . of the whole circle, and 
which is continued in a fine black line for the re- 
maining three-fourths. On the right hand side, how- 
ever, the black line always begins heavy. Inside of 
the red the second circle begins above with white, 
the under segment being continued in bright yellow 
— this being a very fine Hue. Inside of this again is 
a broader band of slightly reddish hue, very light as 
compared with the outer red segment, which is con- 
tinued in a hand slightly narrow of the same colour 
as the wing border. Inside of this last of all is a 
lively crescent of golden yellow framing the lower 
half of the transparency. In the upper wing segments 
the arrangement and the colours are the same, only 
the outer one-third segment of red is very fine, as 
the black line which continues it. The transverse bar 
which divides the wing as above described, and the 
sinewy nerve of the upper wings show the same 
colours, which perhaps are fairly described as darker 
and lighter shades of lavender. The wing nerve is 
as if a very light shade of lavender were powdered 
over a dark lavender grouod. The transverse bar 
across the wings consists of an upper line of dark 
lavender bordered by a line of light lavender shading 
into white. The most strongly marked red lines are 
on the upper wing segments, going from the body 
in a zig-zag to the upper nerve of wing; and in a 
less distinct but much broader band which goes from 
the body right across both wing segments in a line 
with the upper half of the Attacus eyes. These are even 
more clearly marked on the under surface of the wing, 
showing there as wavy lines, the upper and narrower one 
retaining its dark shade of red, and the lower one toning 
down to a dark orange. The lavender of transverse 
bar shines clearly through on this side in the shape of 
small lavender patches, eight to each wing segment. Un- 
fortunately, I have no male with which to compare this 
specimen. It may be accepted as a fact that the male 
moth always differs from the female, in the colour of 
the transverse bar on the wings. If I am correct in 
describing the colour in this instance as lavender, the 
colour in the male would show rather some shade of red 
going into crimson. Mr. Fauvel speaks of rose or 
roseate for the Shantung variety. But rose can. 
